To make the melody note stand out make sure it’s the last note you hit. So when the melody is on the A string use a down strum, when it’s on the g-string use an up strum. Because the melody here is all on the A-string, you use all down strums. I’m using my thumb for the strums and the single notes but for more complicated pieces varying your strumming and picking will make things more interesting.

Alternate Picking

Fingerpicking again but this time, rather than having a dedicated finger for each string, the thumb flips between the g and C strings. On the guitar this type of playing is referred to as Travis picking or Cotten picking.

Here’s a typical pattern with the thumb playing the g and C strings, the index on the E and the middle on the A.

Which is the Best?

The one that sounds best to you.

There isn’t a right answer. Try them all out (and try it campanella style).

I’ve already put up twoarrangements of Ode to Joy and neither of them sound anything like any of the arrangements on this post. If I was going to pick one for this tune, I’d go with the alternate picking. Which I never even thought of trying before this post.

Just came across this post and it opened for me a lot of ways to try to combine melody notation and strumming patterns of songs to create more complex arrangements. Thanks for these excellent insights.